My question to the RWA faithful was, have they got team spirit unrivalled in the league, or have they just been lucky…..?
When asked, bearing in mind that most were wearing a beer overcoat, I’d hate for any of them to take a Jeremy Kyle style lie detector, such was the sweating and shifty eye movement
To be fair, most said (and this mustn’t go back to those in charge) … a tad lucky
I personally was pleased to see Cummings announced in the squad, although that was slightly tempered when I saw his hair. I looked for the earring, tattoo and Harley parked in the car park but they all must be booked for later on….
Also, while I’m at it, Cummings in midfield? What’s that all about? Maybe the Gaffer could see something I hadn’t spotted while I’ve been supporting going to Dean Court, who am I to judge?
I’ve been doing match reports for a while now. I’m not presumptuous enough to think they’ve got any better quality wise, but they’ve certainly become easier to write
You look at what happens, in an unapologetically biased way, then you write it down. It’s simple.
When I’m at the Tatnam, I’m red and white, and will always try to tilt the report in our favour - let's face it, I can't even be bothered to learn the opposition names.
Today, however, has been a real trial.
Never have I written so little during a game. I have stories of missed opportunities such as when Chappo’s phone was found, unlocked, yet Alex proved too strong to yield to the mounting pressure to text all from the phone about Chappo’s coming out….
Ah well, to the game….
Burnham’s away kit was dazzling in fluorescent yellow very reminiscent of Borussia Dortmund so at least we wouldn’t get confused as to who to pass to…. Or so I thought. At worst they wouldn’t be missed if they had to cycle home
In the first half, Poole had ONE chance. Count that again, ONE
I’m not saying that it wasn’t a good chance, I’m just querying that as the side at home against a team with only 2 wins this season, ONE BLOODY CHANCE!!!
It was a good chance, however, on just 7 minutes – which promised so much more than was delivered during the rest of the game
A Cummings free kick was smashed, point blank, by Spetch, a hero in the previous game, only to be miraculously saved by the keeper. He was a big old unit, as my mate Flakey said, but it was still a great save
That was it. The other 44.5 minutes I was struggling to see what was going on as the play was ALL at the other end.
Burnham were the first to every ball and where, on the very odd occasion they were second, they tackled like terriers and won the ball back
You really did struggle to recognise that Poole were the home side
Saying that, the defence were excellent and Hutchings had little to do.
When Poole did get a break and the lively Preston did get a cross in, it was easy fodder for the keeper
Half time 0-0
What I want to do now, in true Disney style, is say that the Gaffer bo***cked the players and they rose to the challenge
In fairness, they were a little better in the second half but still nowhere near what I’d seen before.
The “highlights” of the second half were two sending off, Oliver with a straight red for what looked like a head butt (if you saw the Larry Olivier performance of their player) and their 6 for a cynical foul on Preston right in front of me
The rest of the half it was same old same old…. Poor passing and poor movement
I was still in the bar (drowning my sorrows) as the game restarted so as I don’t know when it restarted exactly I can only say that at 16:43 Poole had their best chance as Gillespie nudged a near post cross wide
That’s it FT 0-0
Summary – The poorest performance I’ve witnessed at the Tatnam. No cohesion, no passion, no quality. I think I must have the answer to my first question – Poole Town, on this performance, must have been very lucky in past games
Today they could have easily lost. The defence deserves some credit as it was a clean sheet and Gillespie was full of running but if this is what the side looks like without Devlin I hope to God he’s back soon
Maybe I’m doing Burnham a disservice – today they were the better side and I believe will recover from a slightly shaky start to the season – for me that makes the day a little easier than just saying Poole were rubbish…
Star Man – Spetch – Resolute in defence and was on the end of the best chance to get a very undeserved victory
